After a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Sequins
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other hitmakers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the history of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
The expert says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Escape
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift alludes to in a latest docuseries that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and 149 concerts across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple and beautiful and magical.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, perfection and a universe where no one misses a mark.
